Arms Of The Angel
by hybridbpv
Summary: Clintasha AU, inspired by the song "Angel", by Sarah McLachlan. Coffee-shop ish? Clint is actually Cupid and is sent to Earth. He meets Natasha and falls in love. *WARNING* Character death and suicide. Please support me by reviewing/following/favouriting (: xx
1. Fly Away

This is an updated version! Nothing has changed though - the story is still the same. I will be writing a sequel, so keep an eye out. It should be out by the end of this (or next) week. My first priority is _Partners_. Enjoy and leave me a review, see what you think (: xx

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Clint huffed as he walked along the streets of New York. _Clint. What a stupid name_. His name was Cupid, until God sent him to earth for a month to bless ten couples with his arrows before St. Valentine's day. Clint. _Dressed like a mere _**_mortal_**._ A mere mortal!_ He continued along as he walked into a coffee shop. Mid-January was not so bad a sight. The floors covered in white snow. He wanted this drink called "hot chocolate". It was nice and warm and sweet and it was his favourite thing about Earth. Up in Heaven, there was no "chocolate".

The little bell rang when he pushed the door and entered the coffee shop. He hadn't been here before. He'd know if he did. It'd been a full three weeks and he hasn't blessed a single couple yet. A short, velvet-haired lady with a husky voice greeted him. "Hello, sir, is there anything I can get you?"

"Hi, yeah. A hot chocolate please?" Clint asked. _My Lord, she's attractive._ She was in a red apron, the same colour as her hair. Her rounded eyes glimmered with a hint of mystery and she had a body curvy like an hour glass.

"Sure thing, that'll be three dollars fifty." She smiled cheerfully. Her lips were so full and…_ seductive_. He red the name tag on her apron.

"Here." He dug his hands in his pant pockets and fished for the money. His cash was magically unlimited, much like his bow and arrow, which was no-where to be seen, yet present in his needs.

"I'll bring the drink to your table in a moment." She said. The counter had a large "tip" jar, which was half filled with coins of all colours with an occasional green bill.

"Thanks, Natasha." Clint smiled. He made his way to an empty table, there was barely anyone in the coffee shop. The old couple who was there a minute ago was walking out of the place and it was just him and her. He shifted in the chair. It was cushioned and brown. But he couldn't keep his eyes off her. The way she swayed her hips when she hurried around the machines and made his drink was mesmerising. And the more he stared, the more he was attracted. She came towards him with his drink in her hand.

"Here you go, sir." She placed the cup gently on the table. Clint dug his hand in his pocket again.

"Here, this is for you." He handed her a ten-dollar bill.

"Thanks." She smiled warmly.

"Keep me company?" He asked.

"Okay." She sat down opposite him. The man before her looked just like a regular bloke. Of course he was attracted to her. Natasha was clear as mud when it came to understanding her effect on men. They would just chase after her and try to get in her panties. But there was just something she couldn't quite put her finger to. There was something special about him, like an aura of this… glowing feeling. "What's your name?"

"Clint." He smiled as he took a sip of the chocolate.

"Clint." She repeated.

"Natasha's a very pretty name." He murmured. She blushed at the way that her name rolled off his tongue. There was something so irresistible about his voice.

"Thank you." She had never felt her face burn like before. They exchanged small talk. She said she was from a place called Russia, and she came here to provide for her family because back there, the living conditions were just plain shit. Clint sipped on his drink. He ordered a chocolate cake to go with his drink. "You have a thing for chocolate?"

"Yeah. I have a thing for chocolate. _And _pretty girls." He said. The chocolate was intoxicating - just the right balance of sweet and bitter. It made him feel a rush of pleasure. And there he was, an angel flirting with a beautiful mortal girl, a spark that could ignite the fuse, but could not be stopped thereafter. Her knee brushed against his under the table. And Natasha didn't know what happened, but she flirted back.

"Am I pretty enough for you?" She asked as she bat her eyelashes.

"Definitely." Clint murmured. "You're gorgeous."

"Would you like to come around for a drink at my place after my shift?" She offered.

"Yes, yes." Clint nodded as she grasped her hand. "You're very beautiful. I find myself very attracted to you."

"My shift ends at two." She said.

"I'll swing by around one thirty. I have some errands to run." He smiled as he gulped down the last of his chocolate.

It had stopped snowing outside, and the snow on the ground had set. Clint walked for a while and ended up at a sign that read: Central Park. So he wandered in and kept walking. There was a large lake next to the path and a row of benches that faced the lake. Countless couples were there to enjoy the freshly fallen snow.

Clint's inbuilt "radar" turned itself on. Where love was in the air, he would feel it. And this love was what fuelled him to keep functioning. Food was just a disguise for his short stay on Earth. He brushed past a couple on holiday, they were French and they were madly in love, and Clint knew that they would stay together. And that was his first arrow.

When he returned to the small coffee shop, Natasha was there and waiting for him, clutching her hand bag. He joined her silently and they started walking.

"So, where are you from?" Natasha asked.

"Um. Not around here." He slurred. "I want to buy some stuff to drink. Any recommendations?"

"I quite like coolers and spirits. I'm Russian. Nothing takes the place of vodka." Natasha gave a small, sad smile.

"Okay. Where do we get those?" Clint asked.

"There's a liquor store around the corner from my house." She said. The rest of the way, Natasha explained how to make cakes and goodies for his stomach and he just listened. There was just something so special about her voice and so alluring that he could listen to her say anything.

She lived in a small apartment where everything could be seen with just one look. There was a small bed to the left side and a closet on the opposite wall. The toilet was opposite the entrance and the kitchen right next to it. Kitchen, being a hot plate and a mini-fridge.

They sat on the bed together, bottles of Smirnoff clinking as they chugged down numerous drinks. Alcohol had no effect on Clint, he was immune to the booze and he watched as she got redder and her words slurred until she was laughing for no reason and could barely hold herself upright.

She laid on the bed with a big smile on her face. Her shirt was tight and her ample breasts strained against the fabric. She nuzzled her head against Clint's lap as she slurred something he couldn't understand. And then she sat up and kissed her. She was so hammered, and her mouth tasted strongly of vodka, but she smelled so good. He returned the kiss as their mouths joined. And the snowball kept tumbling and tumbling and before they knew it, they were making love. He was in her as she moaned and screamed for her pleasure until he stilled and collapsed on her.

The next morning, he was gone. All that was left on the bed was a single black feather. Natasha was hungover and everything hurt, so she took two aspirins to ease the pain. Damn. He was good in bed. _Why is there a feather there?_ She reached to pick up the feather but it's end pricked her. Then this feeling just spread through her, she wanted to see him and talk to him and to be with him.

At work, it was just her boring, normal routine and she saw no sign of him. She needed to see him, but he didn't leave anything behind. Just the feather.

Clint couldn't believe that he fell in love with a human being, and he swore to himself that he would keep away from her.

Another day passed, and it felt like she was suffocating. All that was on her mind was Clint. The beautiful man with an aura of his charm around him. And by the end of the third day, she was tired and crying as she walked home.

Perhaps it was fate that brought them together again, but she bumped into him on the way. "Clint." She called after him as he turned the corner. He turned around and looked at her and saw her crying. He didn't have a heart, but something inside him clenched.

"Natasha. What's wrong?" Clint asked as he tried to keep his distance.

"I just want to see you, and I miss you so much. I don't know why." She sobbed as she explained.

"What happened to your finger?" He asked again and stepped back as she moved forwards.

"There was a feather on the bed after you left, the end pricked me." _Oh shit. She's been pricked by your feather, which is the equivalent of your… arrows._

"Please, please come home with me again. I just want to be with you." She begged.

"No. What we did together was wrong, and we were drunk. I regret it, Natasha, I'm sorry." He lied. She gulped silently as she processed what he said._ He doesn't want to see you again. You're a mistake. _"Good-bye, Natasha."

She turned and left without saying another word. She called in sick to work as she stayed at home and cried. It didn't matter what she did, all that was on her mind was Clint. It didn't matter which show she watched, she just couldn't laugh. She had no appetite and no energy, like all of it was just sucked out of her. Even breathing was difficult.

Instead of snowing, for the next few days, New York had freezing rain. Too many reported cases of people slipping on the sidewalk, accidents caused by skidding and it just wasn't a good week. Natasha sat by her tiny window and inhaled on her spliff. She wasn't a regular smoker. She just needed a way of forgetting him - forgetting the man who left her. And it was all very childish. How could she expect him to stay if they'd just met? She'd just gotten a phone call saying that she's been fired, and her boss sighed while he apologised as he explained that she just couldn't go missing like that. She took another deep breath on the cigarette. _Fuck it all._ Her world hadn't been this dark since she left Russia. She had no-one in the US. No friends, no family, nothing. And now, still. Nothing. It just burned her inside out.

It was a day before Valentine's day, and she decided to go out for a walk. The feelings that she had for Clint hadn't diminished, it didn't just fade away. It was still there, and it was killing her. It was making her insane, and these feelings just cut her heart open every single beat. She walked into a pharmacy and bought a bottle of sleeping pills. She then walked into the same liquor store she and Clint went to and bought a bottle of cheap red wine.

And the thing that she didn't know was Clint followed her. After he rejected her, he felt so much remorse. He had feelings for the girl too. He was watching over her, every day, while he blessed the couples that lit on his radar. He didn't understand why she didn't leave the house for a week. She got fired shortly after she missed three days of work in a row. She hadn't eaten in forever. She looked pale and weak and unlike the Natasha that he met earlier in the month.

She went back home and swallowed the whole bottle of pills along with the wine. The wine tasted disgusting and bitter and sour, but this was it. She was going to end it all by ending her life. Providing for her "family" was a lie. She had no family. It was just herself and she had enough.

The toxic started to set in. She was feeling so tired and everything was starting to dim. And out of no-where, she felt a man hold her in his arms.

"Natasha, no!" Clint sobbed. "No… Why?"

"Because I'm madly in love with you. I can't do this anymore. This is easier for me…" She whispered weakly. Her pulse was frail and her breathing slowed and she was starting to close her eyes.

"I'm sorry, Natasha." Clint murmured in her ear.

"Why did you push me away?" She croaked hoarsely.

"I'm sorry, Natasha. I'm so sorry I hurt you. I love you." Clint sobbed again.

"I love you too, Clint. Please hold me." Natasha whispered. And he held her until her final breath, until all her heat left her body and she was motionless and cold and dead. Clint cried intro her shoulder as he held her. She died in his arms, and there was nothing he could do to save her. Until the clock struck midnight, and slowly, they faded away together as a handful of dust.

Natasha Romanoff was reported missing a few days later, when the police bust into her apartment, all they saw was two feathers on her bed; one black and one white, side by side.


	2. Angel?

She didn't remember blacking out. Natasha woke up feeling lighter and more relaxed than ever. She was in a room with white walls, white chairs and a white table. _How the hell did I get there?_ She took a seat.

And a beam of white light flashed before her eyes, revealing a man wearing a Hawaiian looking shirt and khaki pants that went to his knees. In his hand was a pineapple with it's top cut off and a swirly straw prodding out as well as a toothpick with the umbrella shape. His hair was salt-n-pepper and short and his nose looked red from a sun-burn.

"You know… when I got my drink, you were fading away in Cupid's arm." He shrugged.

"Cupid? I'm sorry. Who are you?" Natasha asked, confused. "Where am I?"

"Who do you think I am? Where do you think you are?" He smiled as he took the seat opposite her.

"I think you're a man who just went to holiday to Hawaii or some tropical place. I don't know where the hell I am." She replied.

"You're rather honest. You sure enough _aren't _in hell, no. You were correct about the Hawaii bit." He smiled gently.

"I'm dead right?" She took a minute to think. "Am I in heaven?"

"You're on the way. This is the room where I have to involve myself in making the decision. The rest, St. Pete can handle." He answered. "You know me as "God". I don't really mind what you call me. I'm just _the _dude."

So _this_ was "God". He was a chillax "dude" sipping on his pineapple drink.

"I'm just a dude who can do things; I make decisions. I made a decision sending Cupid. You know him by the name "Clint"." He explained.

"Wait. Did you say "Cupid"?" She furrowed her brows.

"Some of your people are right." He laughed.

"Do you hold a lightning bolt?" She blurted.

"No. Don't need that kinda stuff." He chuckled.

"The reason you're here… well, it's to do with whether you want to see him again. He's locked away somewhere. The effect of his arrow should've worn away by now."

"I'm sorry, what?" Natasha shook her head. "His _arrow_? Cupid has a fucking _arrow?_"

"It's what he uses. I told you. Your people aren't entirely wrong." He said. "I'm giving you a choice here, Natasha. My angel has made a mistake. He fell in love with a human. That isn't uncommon. But you were pricked by his arrow. It wasn't your fault. He should've been more careful." He sighed. "I'm giving you a choice here. You can stay here in your heaven given that Cupid stays with you - "

"What is heaven like?" She asked.

"Everyone's heaven is different. I have no idea what your's will be." He answered. "It'll be a place you feel euphoric and safe, and you'll be there forever?"

"Won't people get bored?" She asked again.

"No." He said as he shook his head. "I can let you stay here with Cupid. Or I can send you back to Earth. The evidence of your prior existence will be wiped away. You will live a new life with a new identity. I promise you'll be happy; live a life that you've always been dreaming about."

"Aren't you afraid that I'll blurt out everything I saw and everything you said to me?" Natasha asked.

"I'm very thorough. You won't remember a thing." He smiled as he shook his head.

"And all this is up to me?" She asked again.

"Free will. All of it is up to you. Whatever decision you make, I'll do." He stated.

"Humans can stay in heaven?" She muttered.

"There are always special cases. I choose the angels. You've always had a kind heart." He said.

"I don't feel anything for him anymore." She said. "What will happen to him if I go?"

"He'll be stripped of his powers after his time in prison." He pursed his lips together. "And he'll guard the gate with St. Peter."

"If I stay?"

"He'll be released. His powers will still be stripped but his job will be to protect you and teach you." He answered.

"Teach me what?" Natasha looked at him, confused.

"After he teaches you, you guys can be a pair and be sent to Earth as a couple to bless people. That should prevent this _incident_ from happening again." He smiled.

"I get to be an angel, huh?" She raised an eyebrow as he chuckled lightly. "I'll stay."

"Are you sure?"

"Does he still love me?"

"Yes."

"Yes." She said affirmatively. "I'll stay."

With that, God reached over and touched Natasha on the forehead with his index finger. With another bright flash of light, Natasha found herself in an entirely different place. She wasn't in the room any more. God wasn't beside her. She had _wings._ Wings with white coloured feathers. In front of her was a simple grey door. The wall didn't seem to have an end to it's height, nor to it's width. She opened the door and Clint was there - bloodied, battered and chained against the wall.

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This particular installment (and the next) is for the celebration of my good friend: tessacartwheel's birthday! Happy birthday, mate! There'll be a happy ending. Love you! xx (please review/favourite/follow)


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